Chapter 33 Chapter 02 "Guilty", "Conscience Condemnation" and Others (16)

Instead of going in circles, I should give a tentative account of my own hypothesis about the origin of "conscience," which may at first sound familiar to us, and requires us to ponder over and over again.I regard a censure of conscience as a disease which men suffer from under the pressure of that profound change which has never been known in history, which locks man for ever into the prison of social peace.Like those of the sea-creatures, forced either to become land animals for survival or to become extinct, these half-beasts, happily acquainted with savagery, conditions of war, free wandering, and a life of adventure, suddenly find that All their instincts are devalued, "exposed".They had been swimming in the water, and now they had to walk on their feet, and had to "carry their own weight: what a terrible weight was laid upon them! They felt clumsy for the simplest maneuvers. In this new and unknown world where they can no longer rely on the orderly, unconscious, reliable drive of the past to guide them. They are compelled to think, reason, account, connect cause and effect—these unfortunates, they are compelled to use their worst, most sinful False organs: their "consciousness." Never before, I believe, has there been such a painful feeling, such an excruciating discomfort, because those old instincts did not suddenly suspend their demands, but merely But now it has become difficult and rare to satisfy their requirements. The point is that they must find new, almost secret satisfactions for themselves. All instincts that are not allowed to vent are turned inward, which I call the introversion of people, because of This kind of introversion, what is called the "soul" of human beings grew out of the human body. The whole inner world was originally as thin as being sandwiched between two layers of skin, but now, when a person's extroverted When the outlet is restricted, that inner world develops correspondingly in all directions, and thus acquires depth, breadth, and height. That dreadful barrier (punishment is the most important part of this barrier), turning against himself all those instincts of the savage, free, wandering man. Hatred, cruelty, desire to persecute, desire to surprise, desire for curiosity, desire for destruction, all these Everything is turned against the owner of these instincts himself: this is the origin of the "conscience". Due to the lack of external enemies and confrontations, due to being imprisoned in a repressive narrow world and moral norms, man becomes impatient. Ravage oneself, persecute oneself, bite oneself, frighten oneself, abuse oneself, just like a wild beast that needs to be "tamed", smashing its body against the railing in its cage. This animal haggards in memory of the desert Having to create for himself a life of adventure, a torture chamber, a state of restless, dangerous barbarism, - this fool, this longing and hopeless prisoner, becomes the inventor of "conscience." Conscience triggers The gravest and most terrible disease from which man has not yet escaped: man suffers for man and for himself, the result of a violent break with his brutish past, a sudden leap into result of new surroundings and conditions of existence, of a declaration of war against his old instincts, against those instincts which had hitherto engendered his strength, joy, and majesty. We must add at once that, on the other hand, with An animal soul turned against itself, and took a stand against itself, and something new, deep, unheard of, mysterious, contradictory, and promising came into existence on earth, thereby making the earth The appearance of itself has undergone major changes. In fact, there is still a need for a sacred audience to support this scene. The scene has begun, and the ending is not yet predictable. This scene is too delicate, too miraculous, and too interesting.Controversial, so it's impossible to play quietly on some insignificant asteroid.In those unbelievably thrilling games of chance played by Heraclitus's "great child" (whether he was called Zeus or Chance), man was of little importance.Man creates for himself an interest, an anxiety, a hope, even a belief, as if he foreshadows something, prepares something, as if man is not an end but a method, a prelude, a A bridge, a great promise...